Help pick a 1.4" compression driver

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AudioGeek

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#1
ok so i need some direction as to a 1.4" compression driver. I am looking for a 1.4" compression driver for a 800Hz horn. Budget is $400 each. So far I have looked at:

Beyma CP755/Nd (a little over budget)
Faital Pro HF140 or HF146/r line
RCF ND940
SB Audience 65CDN-T
Beyma TPL150 - Not a compression driver but could look at as I would save $ not building a 800Hz horn
B&C 980TN
B&C 1090TN

I probably have missed a bunch also.

This is for a hi-fi speaker not a P.A. system. For now its just a 2-way with a 15" but may add a supertweeter at a later date.

Thanks for any help!
 
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#3
You might want to consider a couple of Radian Neo series 1.4" HF drivers:

NEO951PB-8 - significantly over your budget, at $449.00 https://www.usspeaker.com/radian 951pb-1.htm

NEO745PB-8 - under budget at $319.95 https://www.usspeaker.com/radian 745neopb-1.htm

I am running NEO950PB-16 (2 inch driver) on Yuichi A-290s. The Radians replaced a pair of JBL 2440 back 15 months or so when I was running them on a pair of JBL 2380A horns - much cleaner sound, and a lot more detail.
 
#8
Faital HF1460 measured well in the VoiceCoil bench test. 317 euros at TLHP.

I use the 18 Sound ND3SN. Better than Radian aluminum and probably better than untreated titanium. Can easily do 800hz in a home setting.

3" diaphragm is obviously the better choice if no supertweeter is used. 4" will open up the crossover options down low if you do use a tweeter.
 
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#9
You could add "wings" to a pair of Great ESS Heils and save some money. (..though you would need a very steep high-pass crossover, presumably DSP).

They have a pair on sale for $250 right now which is a steal. 😉

Jeff/"Badman" has done this here:
https://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/1211/heil_amt1_horn.htm

(..I'd probably do a 3D model and have it printed for the "wings".)

While it is a Dipole, you could place a higher freq. absorber behind the drivers to largely reduce the rear output of the drivers if desired.
 
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#10
AudioGeek said:
Have you had a chance to compare the Radians to other drivers? That Radian 951PB looks promising. May even work with a simple cap filter starting at 15-20Khz.

As far as Polymer is it just the Faital Pro's with Polymer?

Thanks for quick input!
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Only to the JBL 2440, and compared to that it's in another league. (lower distortion, better HF performance, and it sounds better too)

I am using FaitalPro HF10AK (polymer diaphragm) on an STH100 as tweeters, works quite well.
 
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#11
My vote would go to the first ones. I have a pair (and a pair in Beyma Coax speaker) and I like them very much. A measurement on a 800 Hz (scaled a bit up) horn is here: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...rn-600-hz-size-beech-cnc.385657/#post-7070175 I really like their transparency, the only better HF unit is the large Heil AMT to my ears. So I would also second ScottG's advice. I have one in a simple Synergy horn at the moment ( https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/ess-amt-1-in-my-projects.349546/page-11#post-6891749 ), it can be used with 600 Hz crossover in this horn for home volumes. So AMT and some sort of simple horn or wings would be a way to go as well.
 
#16
I'm using Hf146 on xt1464 horns in an ongoing project and so far so good. The drivers were on my shortlist for a while, but a good deal on some barely used ones made my mind up. They have needed some eq at the high end, but sound pretty good. Crossed over at 700Hz at the moment.
 
#17
Captain B said:
I'm using Hf146 on xt1464 horns in an ongoing project and so far so good. The drivers were on my shortlist for a while, but a good deal on some barely used ones made my mind up. They have needed some eq at the high end, but sound pretty good. Crossed over at 700Hz at the moment.
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The HF146 is for sure cheaper than the others. I keep look at the Faital Pro's. In fact my 15" driver will be a Faital Pro so would be cool to just match it. There are many 1.4" options with them... there is the HF146R version, also the HF140 looks pretty good! the large 1440 is interesting too... but a little higher cost.
 
#18
hmm.. i am leaning towards the Faital Pro HF146. Not the R version. Cost is less than the others and sounds like the polymer has a smoother sound. Plus it will be then an all Faital Pro speaker system. Thoughts? It will be matched to Crowe Audio ES600 horn.
 
#20
The 1.4" driver with a 15" driver is a very reasonable choice, typically the sweetspot IMO for performance in typical home hifi applications in the mid-range and in particular with 2 way systems. The 1 inch generally have less LF capability and more distortion if played low, the 2 inch generally doesn't have the HF extension or as flat an overall FR. This is of course a generalization, and there are drivers that perform better than expected for the specific format. YMMV may vary.
 
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